Canada has some pretty funny city names. I was having a discussion the other day about funny city names around the world and realized that we, Canada have by far have the craziest names of towns and cities in the world.
There is a Batman and a Middlefart in Denmark, a Phi Phi (pronounced PeePee) in Thailand, a Worms in Germany, and Phuket (pronounced Pooh-kett, but reading it is another story) in Thailand.
Anyway, I was thinking that these places are most likely perfectly normal names in their native tongue. But what about those countries that speak English as a first language? Nobody compares to Canada. We are a bunch of weirdos up here in the Great White North and we like it that way!
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Strange, Odd and Funny City Names in Canada
What excuse do they have for the ridiculous names that they have used for their towns? In my research, I discovered that Canada is the worst offender when it comes to naming towns. I wonder if it is all of that cold weather that affected the brains of our country’s founders?
When I started writing this post, I was going to write about funny cities names and odd names of towns that I have visited around the world. But then I realized that they have nothing on Canada. We have come up with some pretty strange names for our cities and towns.
Here is a list of ridiculous, strange, odd and funny city names in my home country, Canada.
St. Louis du Ha! Ha! – Quebec
Yes, the exclamation marks are part of its name. There isn’t a definite theory on how St. Louis du Ha! Ha! in Quebec got its name. Only that haha is an old French word for obstacle and some guy named Louis was one of the first settlers in the area. I don’t care, it’s fun!
Sexsmith Alberta
Its origin isn’t as interesting as I was hoping for, but it still makes for a great name. It is named after the famous fur trader David Sexsmith. There are blacksmiths and metalsmiths but a Sexsmith would be far more entertaining. Read more: The 52 Best Things to do in Alberta, Canada – The Ultimate Guide
Wawa – Ontario
Comes from the Ojibwe word “wewe” for wild goose. Why go to Wa Wa? It has a 28 foot high statue of a Canada Goose! And it is located in beautiful Northern Ontario near Lake Superior Provincial Park, the largest freshwater lake in the world (by area that is. It is 3rd in volume). Read more: 22 Most Epic and Thrilling Things to do in Ontario
Stoner – British Columbia
It’s a fitting name for the reputation that British Columbia has. And hey, pot is legal in Canada, so at least we have a place for eveyone to hang out. But in all seriousness, it is actually named after Stone Creek. I have read that locals used to call it that, but it has morphed into Stoner. Typical. Check out The Best Places to Visit in British Columbia
Climax – Saskatchewan
We obviously spend way too much time indoors up here in Canada. This town is named after another Climax, Climax Minnesota. Can’t let the Americans have all of the fun, we want a Climax too.
Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump – Alberta
Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump definitely caught my attention when we visited. It turns out that this location is not really a town, but it’s still worth a mention. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there is a community of farms and ranches around it. Also read: The Best Things to do in Calgary Alberta
Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump is a national historic site located in Alberta where early prehistoric plains aboriginal people hunted buffalo since 3700 BC. They would herd the buffalo towards this cliff and create a stampede where they were forced to jump over and fall to their death.
Forget – Saskatchewan
Named after a Lieutenant Governor, Amedee E. Forget. They thought that we would all remember this guy, but really….does anyone know who past Lieutenant Governors are? Now it just looks like a forgettable name.
Come by Chance – Newfoundland
I couldn’t find the origin of this name, but if you happen to come upon it by chance, let me know.
Vulcan – Alberta
I had to mention this strange city name. They actually had the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie there for all of the true Trekkies. Vulcan hosts an annual galaxy fest, a start trek walking tour, and it has a 31 foot replica of the Vulcan Star Ship and a Vulcan reality game. Big bonus, the late Leonard Nimoy visited Vulcan in real life! Oh yeah, it is on the map baby.
Blow Me Down – Newfoundland
Newfoundland takes the cake as the province that has the most unusual names. Blow Me Down is the tamest of them all!
Nameless Cove – Newfoundland
The story here… They used to be called Flowers Cove, but another town stole the name, registered it, and told them that they had to come up with a new name. Well, they didn’t do a very good job. Today they are known as Nameless Cove.
Spread Eagle – Newfoundland
Located near Conception Bay, Spread Eagle has a great view of the Dildo Arm. Does it get any better than this?
Dildo – Newfoundland
The number one odd name of a town in Canada has to be Dildo. It also takes the cake for x-rated names of cities. There are many theories about this place being named after anything from a Spanish Sailor to a ship’s part, to a cactus tree. I think that the guys on the East Coast were just having a laugh. If you know of any other theories, let me know.
Goobies – Newfoundland
It doesn’t stop yet, Newfoundland still keeps the towns with funny names going here in Canada. Goobies has a population of only about 150 people, but looking at real estate, houses are going for $230k. With that deal, it may grow soon! Plus it’s not too far from Come by Chance.
Honorable Mentions…strange, funny, odd names of towns They all still meet the criteria.
- Otterville – I grew up in Otterville Ontario, and people laughed at me when I told them the name of my hometown.
- I wish it was named after the cute Otter but alas I recall it was named after some dude named John Otter growin put.
- Frogmore – Ontario,
- Dorking – Ontario,
- Bastard – Ontario
- Punkydoodles – Near Waterloo Ontario Dave and I may have to take a road trip to see this!
- Finger – Manitoba.
Enjoy More Funny Things about Canada on YouTube:
So there you have it, my list of strange and odd names of towns and funny city names right here in Canada. There are hundreds around the world – if you see any others, share them with us!
Come By Chance Harbour, Nfld. and Chance Harbour, NS. In both of these cases the harbour entrance is difficult to see from outside (outside the harbour). So you may chance upon or discover the harbour entrance.
You may Come Upon It By Chance, but that name has far too many words. So it became “Come By Chance”.
It not that funny, but it is a lot different from what we are used to; Pekwachnamaykoskwaskwaypinwanik Lake, Manitoba.
Bahahahaha! Now I want to to travel to Newfoundland solely to take pictures with the signs. This is hilarious!
Awesome list. It’s funny and very interesting to get to know about these names.
Yay! Thanks for the shout out & posting my pic 🙂
Dildo is a beautiful place with the best name!
Definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in Newfoundland.
I spent a good part of my childhood living in Sexsmith and even graduated from there. I have had many, many interesting looks and comments from people when I have told them that. A lot of people don’t believe at first that there is actually a town named Sexsmith. Interesting side note: it once had a canola crushing plant, which for many years was called the rapeseed plant, so Sexsmith was known as the “Land of Rape”. Very glad that title went by the way side.
I think they capitalized that name to see what type of reaction(s) they would get from the general public. If that was me, I’d just ignore the sign and go about my business. 🙂
The name of this place in eastern Canada is unmentionable. I’ll just give you the Google Earth coordinates: 46°15’00” N , 75°56’56” W
Cheers!
Nigigoonsiminikaaning. When we were little my brother used to call it Nick the moose is meditating 🙂
It is not funny as Dildo for sure, but there is a town simply called “Grand-Mère” in Quebec (Grand-Mother).
keeping in Canadian funny name tradition – we should rename Ottawa to Got Screwed
Come by chance! Just awesome haha
I love Happy Adventure, Newfoundland! they seem to have an over abundance of awesome named places! THey are pretty happy go lucky people if I do say so myself.
You guys forgot Flinflon, Mayo, chicken, and frederection
Great additions to the Canadian odd names list. So many to choose from.
Dildo, Newfoundland is named after a dowel shaped piece of wood which is set into the gunwales of a dory (rowboat). The dildos fit through a hole in each oar and act as oarlocks.
There were quite a few names left out for Newfoundland…..Feel free to check these out….
Ass Hill, Ass Rock, Back Cove, Bacon Cove, Badger, Bar Haven, Bareneed, Bay Bulls, Billy Butts Pond, Blow Me Down, Bottle Cove, Butter Cove, Cape Onion, Catalina, Change Islands, Chapel Arm,
Coffee Cove, Come-By-Chance, Comfort Cove, Conception Bay, Cow Head, Cupids, Curling, Deadman’s Bay, Deadman’s Cove, Diamond Cove, Dildo, Exploits River, Ferryland, Fleur de Lys, Flowers Cove, Fortune, Fox Roost, Foxtrap, Frenchman’s Cove, Funk Lake, Furby’s Cove, Gander, Gin Cove, Goblin, Goobies, Halfway Point, Happy Adventure, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Hare Bay, Hatchet Cove, Hearts Content, Hearts Delight, Heart’s Desire, Jerry’s Nose, Joe Bat’s Arm, Lawn, Leading Tickles West, Little Seldom, Low Point, Mosquito, Mouse Island, Nameless Cove, New World Island, Nippers Harbor, Noggin Cove, Old Man’s Head, Old Room, Paradise, Pasadena, Penetanguishene, Petty Harbor, Poor Boy Island, Quidi Didi Harbour, Red Indian Lake, River of Ponds, Salvage, Seldom, Small Point, St. Jones Within, St. Jones Without, Stag Harbour, Tickle Cove, Toogood Arm, Virgin Arm, Wild Bight, Wreck Cove…..
I may have missed a few and some of these names may have changed or are wrong spelling, but they do exist…..check them out
Intercourse, Pennslyvania. Right over the hill from Paradise. Also, Normalville, PA (I once went there just to see what the people do…) and Mars, PA.
People seem to find the name of my hometown (“Cold Lake,” Alberta) comical. I think it’s the literal nature of the name that throws them off–but there’s way too many of those in Canada to compile a top 10 list!
There is a place in NS called Grosse Coques
There are two towns in Saskatchewan that aren’t too far apart – Elbow, and Eyebrow, Sask. I think they are fairly near to Earl Grey, Sask.
Dogs Nest Ontario http://www.roadsidethoughts.com/on/dogs-nest-nearby.htm
I hadn’t heard of Dogs Nest Ontario. I must make a road trip out of it for a visit.
Happy Valley – Goose Bay
I never understood this name
Happy Valley or Goose Bay? I think that they are two separate places right? Thanks for the contribution. Both are fun!
Fingringhoe, England is my #1 in the world. My 5 favorite in Pennsylvania are here: http://kooztop5.blogspot.com/2011/11/top-5-most-embarrassing-pennsylvania.html. Love your comments for each town name, by the way–hilarious!
Thanks for sharing Kooz, that’s hilarious and thanks for reading, I’ll check out your post for sure!
Thanks debndave! And thanks for checking out mine as well!
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How is Punkydoodles Corners, ON not on this list? Medicine Hat? I live near Petawawa, which isn’t too far from Killaloe (pronounced Kill-a-loo) and Dry Lake.
Hi Jessica! that is awesome, I have never heard of Punkydoodles. thanks for sharing some excellent names with us all!
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nique Words and Phrases of CanadaCanadian Food Our Lack of IdentityStrange and Funny Names of Places in CanadaAnd now to end with a monologue that was huge in Canada in the 90?s. It is from a Beer ad
I’m from Rocky Mountain House, AB. People never believe me when I tell them the name of my town. YES it is a town. It was a fur trading post, or “house” on the edge of the Rockies. It’s now a town of 7,000 and we surely do not all live in the same house.
That is a cute name for a town. I like it. I don’t know, we Canadian’s are pretty friendly, I could see us all living under one big roof:-)
It’s one of the things I love most about Canada – well, that’s not true, the things I love most are the land, the maple syrup, the people, and bears….still…I went to Moose Jaw just because of the name…A name is a funny thing especially if it’s ha!ha!
I almost forgot the poutine….
Awesome! Don’t forget about Conception Bay, NFLD too. Flin Flon, MB always makes me laugh too. There are also all kinds of crazy places around us in Ireland right now as well. Our favorite is Kilcock. 🙂
Conception Bay, that one made me laugh. Our founding fathers definitely knew how to name a place!
Gander, Newfieland. (Fun to say.)
And here’s a doozy: Cold Lake, Alberta. Known for it’s -50°C winters without wind chill, and winters from September to April.
Two Hills, AB and Hairy Hill, AB
Two Hills, Alberta and Hairy Hill, Alberta
There’s a place in Ontario called “Petawawa.” Most people don’t believe me that its a real place when I talk about that town.
Oops sry about that made a ‘little’ mistake in my comment :)_
lol I laughed at forget Saskatchewan and ‘nameless’ cove? ok.. :). I’m pretty they knew what they were naming when they were coming up with names I mean cmon they’re people just like us, no? Anyway interesting post, take care.
I still love Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump, Alberta and Leading Tickles, NL
Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump is a winner for sure! I love how literal and creative we are in naming our towns in Canada.
Haha seems like Newfoundland is the place to be for oddnameologists!
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try plunkett saskatchewan lol…notice sask names are all two words wynyard(win-yard) wishart, foam lake, rose town, moose jaw, maple creek lol
Haha great list – I honestly didn’t believe you about ‘St. Louis du Ha! Ha!’ – I googled it to be sure I wasn’t being dooped. Turns out that’s very true, and very weird.
Saskatchewan has quite a few weird town names. My Dad is From Semens (in sk)…yea, try and tell people that without chucklin’ a bit. Then there’s Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. And my personal fave, Beaver Saskatchewan.
Thanks for the smiles
St. Louis du Ha! Ha!, Quebec is a real place name. A “Ha! Ha!” is a ditch to contain livestock. one side of the ditch is sloped and the other vertical. The livestock are kept on the sloped side. When they walk down the slope they run into a vertical wall and can go no farther.
We always like the name of Spuzzum in BC.. A town that if you sneeze while driving on the highway you miss it!
Don’t forget Balzac,AB!